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Mahalo Back Girl

Mahalo Back Girl

March 25, 2015July 21, 2019Sustainable Living
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Hi! I'm Larissa About Larissa

Former architectural technologist. Current treehugger.

I'm here to help you green your home - and your life.

LET'S BE TREEHUGGERS TOGETHER!

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Our House in the Trees

Find out more about our 40 acres of land in Alberta, Canada and the sustainable home we built amongst the trees.

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Recent Posts
  • Always dreamed of starting a garden? Me too! Which is why it was the first project we tackled after moving into our sustainable home. Check it out!Starting a Garden | Our House in the Trees | Episode 8
  • Raise your hand if you love antique home decor. Raised both hands? You've come to the right place! Here's a home tour featuring antique and thrifted finds.Antique + Thrifted Home Decor Tour
  • Whether your decor style is Boho, Coastal - even Minimalist - there's a set of woven basket wall decor out there with your name on it!How to Create a Woven Basket Wall – THREE WAYS!
  • If you love your home, but you also love the planet, you're in luck! Here are more than sixty tips on home decor and home design ideas.60+ Home Decor Products and Tips – ALL ECO-FRIENDLY!
  • Looking for eco-friendly mother's day gifts? These 10 nature-inspired items are sure to delight the mother earth loving mother in your life - whether that be your mom, mom-in-law, grandma, sister - or yourself!10 Nature-Inspired Mother’s Day Gifts
True Botanicals
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Delilah
Popular Posts
  • A tutorial illustrating how to create an interior design board using Pinterest, along with instructions on how to print a Pinterest board.
    How to Create and Print a Design Board Using Pinterest
  • Love the look of bohemian bedroom decor, but need a little guidance pulling it all together? Check out this boho bedroom shopping guide - featuring eco-conscious items from ethical marketplace Made Trade!
    Boho Bedroom Shopping Guide
  • Vegan Bedding by Of Houses and Trees | What goes into collecting the down or silk used for duvet fill? The story isn't pretty, but thankfully vegan bedding is a readily available option.
    Cruelty-Free Duvet Options
  • Prefer an old fashioned wood rocker to an oversized glider for your nursery? Learn how to make an easy DIY rocking chair cushion out of quilt batting.
    How to Make an Easy DIY Rocking Chair Cushion
  • What's an eco-conscious kitchen without an energy efficient fridge? Here are five of the most efficient Energy Star rated refrigerators out there!
    5 of the Most Energy Efficient Refrigerators
VivaTerra
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Sometimes the best furniture and decor items for y Sometimes the best furniture and decor items for your home are the ones you already own. ⁣ ⁣ I bought this green chaise over a decade ago from IKEA. I used to buy everything from IKEA 😅⁣ ⁣ I have no idea if it's sustainable. But it's more sustainable to keep it than to replace it with a new, eco-conscious piece.⁣ ⁣ Besides - I still love it! I mean... it is green after all...⁣ ⁣ What piece of furniture have you owned forever and still love?⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ Pillow and throw blanket from the wonderful Etsy shop @organicturkishtowels #etsyaffiliate Link in bio!
"Strengthen and protect environmental policies dur "Strengthen and protect environmental policies during recovery." - IISD Green Strings Principle No. 5⁣ ⁣ You know what really gets under my skin? When policy-makers and people in power use vulnerable times to push their nefarious agendas.⁣ ⁣ Yeah. That's right. NEFARIOUS. ⁣ ⁣ According to a CBC interview with Ashley Wallis from @envirodefence, "the plastics industry has definitely been pushing this false narrative that single-use plastics are the hygienic option."⁣ ⁣ As Wallis says, shortly after the pandemic was announced by the WHO, the plastic industry began lobbying for officials to hold off on banning single-use plastics.⁣ ⁣ Even though scientists and other experts have clearly stated that reusables are completely safe as long as we all follow basic hygiene.⁣ ⁣ BASIC. HYGIENE.⁣ ⁣ Let's not fall for it. Let's not let people in power use fear-mongering to scare us into using products that are not only unnecessary, they're also harmful to the planet. ⁣ ⁣ Which in the end - means harmful to us.⁣ ⁣ Read or listen to the full interview with Ashley Wallis on CBC. Link in bio! #greenrecovery 🌎
Can you spot the the tiny blond adventurer?⁣ ⁣ Can you spot the the tiny blond adventurer?⁣ ⁣ Not much in this world makes me happier than seeing my kids playing outside. Running through the tall grass behind our home. Collecting rocks. Chasing frogs. Letting ladybugs crawl on their arms.⁣ ⁣ If only - as adults - we held on to that inborn connection to nature.⁣ ⁣ What would our world look like if we all saw it through the eyes of children? 🌱⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ Check out my latest video featuring our garden, some trees - and my kids running around in the background. Link in bio!
"Build up the sectors and infrastructure of tomorr "Build up the sectors and infrastructure of tomorrow." - IISD Green Strings Principle No. 4⁣ ⁣ Tomorrow is a word we say a lot. Especially when the future seems so uncertain. ⁣ ⁣ What will tomorrow look like? Will I ever go back to work? Will the kids go back to school? Will I be able to leave my house without a mask on?⁣ ⁣ Sometimes tomorrow seems like a scary place. ⁣ ⁣ And some things about tomorrow are so scary we have a hard time even thinking about them.⁣ ⁣ Will there be enough food to eat? Will the air be too dirty to breath? Will we run out of clean water?⁣ ⁣ It's one of the reasons why we have such a hard time accepting that our actions TODAY have such a huge impact on the world of TOMORROW.⁣ ⁣ But it's time to start living in the world of tomorrow - right now. A world with more alternative energy. More sustainable products. More green jobs. More eco-conscious habits.⁣ ⁣ Live like tomorrow is already here. Not the scary version of tomorrow. The better one. The one that we all have the power to create through the actions we take. Today 🌎⁣ ⁣ Read more about IISD's principles for a green recovery on their website. Link in bio!
Happy August Long Weekend Canadian friends! 🇨🇦⁣ ⁣ American friends - do you have an equivalent holiday?⁣ ⁣ Apparently the August Civic holiday is the day we're supposed to celebrate our city's birthday. But I don't live in a city. So instead I choose to celebrate the thing I celebrate every day - the earth!⁣ ⁣ May those of you who get to enjoy the day outside take a moment to look at the sky, the trees, the wildlife and any nearby bodies of water and give our planet a silent (or a loud) THANK YOU!⁣ ⁣ I'll be in the garden today. Check out my recent video about us starting our garden this spring 🌱Link in bio!
Do you have a garden? Want a garden? Want to watch Do you have a garden? Want a garden? Want to watch me put together the brand new garden behind our sustainable home.⁣ ⁣ My latest video features us building raised beds from scrap 2x10s, starting seeds indoors - and planting 24 spruce trees! Want to enjoy the beauty of acreage living without leaving the comfort of your own home? Just follow the link in my bio! #ourhouseinthetrees 🏡
"We were together. I forget the rest." - Walt Whit "We were together. I forget the rest." - Walt Whitman⁣ ⁣ Tomorrow is mine and Devin's ten year anniversary.⁣ ⁣ After ten years of marriage, sometimes it really does feel like a blur. A happy, love-filled blur. But a blur all the same. Especially once you add kids into the mix. Waking up not knowing which bed you went to sleep in. Driving here and there and here again. Work and money and building a house and school and dreams and eating chips on the couch (our favourite).⁣ ⁣ We used to talk about what we'd do for our 10 year anniversary. Go on a big trip. Maybe back to Cozumel where we had our honeymoon. Sit on the edge of the pier in the pitch black. Just like we did the first time.⁣ ⁣ Instead, we'll be spending our anniversary in the car with our four year old and six year old. Driving to the mountains to camp with my parents. It's not fancy. But neither are we.⁣ ⁣ And I wouldn't have it any other way. #marriedtomybestfriend ⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ Check us out on one of our biggest adventures to date - buying land and building a house! Link in bio ⬆
Do you have a wood burning fireplace? We love ours Do you have a wood burning fireplace? We love ours, but the information surrounding how eco-friendly they are is a bit muddled. ⁣ ⁣ For example, while one source reports that a natural gas fireplace is greener because it releases less chemicals, we all know that gas isn't a renewable resource.⁣ ⁣ Meanwhile, wood is indeed a renewable resource, but there's debate whether burning it is carbon neutral.⁣ ⁣ The takeaway? Eco-conscious living isn't always straightforward. But we did a lot of research and decided a wood burning fireplace was the best option for our family and our #sustainablehome⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ If you'd like to watch me talk a little bit more about our fireplace, as well as the rest of #ourhouseinthetrees, check out my house tour. Link in bio!
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